Home Storage Tape LTO 9 Tape Drive IBM LTO 9 Tape Drive
Gain up to 45 TB of compressed data per cartridge with next-generation LTO Ultrium 9 technology
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IBM® LTO 9 Tape Drive incorporates the latest generation of Linear Tape-Open (LTO) technology, delivering even higher capacity than the previous generation. 

In addition to backup, LTO 9 Tape Drive is designed to help your business handle the growing data demands of modern tape use cases like cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), and active file archive. By providing a physical storage capacity of up to 45 TB per cartridge (with 2.5:1 compression), LTO 9 Tape Drive is an excellent tape storage solution for medium-sized and enterprise businesses requiring backup and low-cost, archival storage of data.

IBM LTO 9 Tape Drive

Ninth generation LTO Ultrium, full-height internal tape drive.

Benefits
Reduce storage costs

Gain 50% more storage capacity in the same footprint. Store up to 45 TB (compressed) per cartridge — better capacity than previous-generation LTO cartridges.

Simplify data management

Make tape-based data easy to access. IBM Storage Archive™ supports the tape-oriented IBM Linear Tape File System™ (IBM LTFS).

Help meet compliance requirements

Enhance security and compliance with data encryption and Write Once Read Many (WORM) support.

Increase flexibility

Internal enclosure enables portability and flexible installation fitting two units side-by-side on a 19-inch rack shelf.

Empower your users

Integration with IBM Storage Protect™ allows users to create, manage and archive — including concurrent copies of content, plus active, inactive and offsite content.

Easily integrate

Cross-platform, open systems support helps integrate high-capacity tape backups with a variety of systems running Microsoft Windows or UNIX operating systems.

Features
Fast data transfer

The LTO 9 tape drive boasts an uncompressed data transfer rate of up to 400 MBps with 2.5:1 compression. Data transfer rate may vary depending on host usage and interface utilization -- up to 700 MBps for 8 Gbps FC and up to 900 MBps for 12 Gbps SAS interface -- for full-high (FH) tape drives.


Simplified access and management

IBM Storage Archive™ helps simplify LTO 9 Tape Drive access and management by enabling text-based file tagging for more intuitive searches of drive content. IBM Storage Archive supports the tape-oriented LTFS and provides a GUI to the tape drive’s contents. These features help make tape-based data as easy to find and access as disk- or flash-based data. By making tape easy and intuitive, Storage Archive LTFS opens the door to new uses and applications for LTO Ultrium tape.


Flexible network integration

The LTO 9 tape drive 12 Gbps SAS interface enables it to connect to a wide spectrum of open-system servers. For flexible network integration, this compact external drive offers both two SAS ports and one Ethernet port, and two units can fit side-by side on a 19-inch rack shelf or be used in standalone configuration. The 8 Gbps FC drive offers two FC ports and one Ethernet port.


Maximized performance and enhanced security

IBM Storage Archive creates an efficient “data footprint” that dynamically stores every bit of data at the optimal cost, helping maximize performance and ensuring security. IBM Storage Archive enables storage of digital assets for the long term, so assets can be referenced and monetized for years to come.


File-level access to tape data

The LTO Ultrium 9 provides partitioning support, which, in conjunction with IBM Storage Archive, provides users with file-level access to tape data. This support helps users quickly locate and update information.


Interchangeable Ultrium 9 and Ultrium 8 tape media

LTFS tape drives are designed to be interchangeable among compatible LTO tape drives and supported operating systems, so administrators will not have to worry about hardware and software compatibility. With LTFS, managers can quickly access, store or archive files on Ultrium 8 tape and transport files to another LTO 9 Tape Drive, and from different locations, in a very easy-to-use format.


Data encryption

The LTO Ultrium 9 technology is also designed to natively support data encryption, with core hardware encryption and decryption capabilities resident in the LTO Ultrium 9 tape drive itself.


High capacity and operational simplicity

LTO 9 Tape Drive supports the LTO Consortium compressed specification for LTO Ultrium 9, offering up to 45 TB of data storage per cartridge (18 TB native), twice the compressed capacity of the previous LTO Ultrium 8 cartridges. In addition to reading and writing to LTO Ultrium 9 tape cartridges, LTO 9 Tape Drive can read and write to LTO Ultrium 8 cartridges. LTO 9 Tape Drive supports the self-describing features of LTO tape cartridges for operational simplicity.

You may also be interested in IBM TS4300 Tape Library

IBM® TS4300 Tape Library is a high-density, highly scalable, easy-to-manage solution designed to keep data securely stored long-term, while helping reduce the costs associated with data center space and utilities.

IBM Storage Archive

IBM Storage Archive™, a member of the IBM Storage™ family, gives you direct, intuitive and graphical access to data stored in IBM tape drives and libraries by incorporating the Linear Tape File System™ (LTFS) format standard for reading, writing and exchanging descriptive metadata on formatted tape cartridges.

IBM LTO Ultrium 9 Data Cartridge

High-capacity tape media designed for reliability and longevity.

IBM TS2280 Tape Drive

IBM® TS2280 Tape Drive incorporates the latest generation of Linear Tape-Open (LTO) technology, delivering even higher capacity than the previous generation.

IBM TS2900 Tape Autoloader

Offers low profile, entry-level LTO storage in open system platforms.

IBM LTO Ultrium 8 Data Cartridge

Long-term data preservation and rapid, reliable access to data; the eighth generation of LTO Ultrium tape.

Next steps

Discover how scalable, secure and energy-efficient tape storage can benefit your organization. 

Read the IBM Tape Library Guide
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